Armrest structure for vehicle seat

ABSTRACT

In an armrest structure for a vehicle seat, an armrest is mounted at a mounting portion on the outboard side of a seat back and is arranged close to a door trim panel. The armrest is capable of moving inboard upon receipt of an inboard load.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-012806 filed on Jan. 23, 2008, the discloser of which application is hereby incorporated by reference into this application in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

A technique disclosed in the present specification relates to an armrest structure for a vehicle seat in which an armrest is mounted on the outboard side of a seat back.

It is general to provide an armrest at a side door in a conventional armrest structure for a vehicle seat. In a side door of a vehicle disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2006-56424, a support shaft serving as a swinging support axis is provide at the lower side part of a support member (the armrest) to allow the armrest to be capable of swinging and shifting about the support shaft as the support axis.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the conventional armrest structure for a vehicle seat, however, the armrest is provided at the side door to necessitate operation for accommodating the armrest in operating to open/close the side door, which is laborious. Automation of this operation makes the structure of the side door more complicated than a case with an armrest merely provided at a resin-made trim panel and increases its weight to make the opening/closing operation difficult.

While on the other hand, when the armrest is provided at a seat without narrowing the width of the seat, a hand or the like may be caught between the side door and the armrest in opening/closing the side door.

The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing and has its object of securely preventing a hand and the like from being-caught by an armrest in opening/closing a door in a simple structure with no narrowing of the width of a seat involved.

To attain the above object, an armrest provided outboard of a seat back is arranged close to a door trim panel and is made capable of moving inboard.

Specifically, an armrest structure includes: a mounting portion provided on an outboard side in a car width direction of a seat back; an armrest mounted at the mounting portion; and a door trim panel provided outboard of the seat back, wherein the armrest is arranged close to the door trim panel and is movable inboard upon receipt of an inboard load.

With the above arrangement, the armrest moves inboard upon receipt of an inboard load caused when a hand or the like intervening between the door trim panel and the armrest pushes the armrest in opening/closing the door. Hence, the hand or the like is not caught even though the width of the seat is not reduced.

The door trim panel may be provided at a sliding door and is located close to an outboard surface of the armrest when the sliding door is closed.

The above arrangement eliminates the need to form the armrest at the door trim panel of the sliding door to lead to reduction in the amount of outboard ejection in opening of the sliding door and to eliminate the need to form in the door trim panel a large armrest releasing clearance for preventing a hand and the like from being caught. Hence, the width of the seat is need not to be narrowed to increase the degree of freedom of design.

The armrest may include a swing mechanism capable of swinging inboard about the mounting portion as a center upon receipt of the inboard load, and the swing mechanism may include a biasing member for always pushing back the armrest outboard.

With the above arrangement, when no inboard load is applied, the armrest returns self-operatively to the original position by the operation of the biasing member, thereby eliminating the need to return the armrest manually.

The swing mechanism may be mounted at the seat back, and the armrest is provided at the swing mechanism.

In the above arrangement, it is unnecessary to provide the swing mechanism at the armrest to lead to reduction in size and weight of the armrest, thereby facilitating its swinging.

The armrest may be mounted at the swing mechanism so as to be capable of turning vertically relative to the swing mechanism.

In the above arrangement, vertical turning of the armrest does not accompany turning of the swing mechanism. Hence, the armrest can swing smoothly when a load in the horizontal direction is applied regardless of the turning position of the armrest.

The swing mechanism may include: a base plate mounted at a seat back frame; and a swing plate pivotally supported by the base plate so as to be capable of swinging inboard relative to the base plate, wherein the armrest is mounted at the swing plate so as to be capable of turning vertically relative to the base plate.

With the above arrangement, the swing plate swings relative to the base plate mounted at the seat back frame to cause the armrest to swing relative to the seat back frame. Vertical turning of the armrest means mere turning of the arrest relative to the swing plate and does not cause the swing mechanism to turn. Hence, the armrest is prevented from unintentional inboard swinging at vertical turning of itself and can swing smoothly upon receipt of a load in the horizontal direction regardless of the turning position of the armrest.

The armrest may include a cushion while the seat back may include another cushion, wherein the armrest is mounted at the mounting potion so as to be in contact at an inboard surface thereof with an outboard surface of the seat back, and the cushion of the armrest and the cushion of the seat back are in contact with each other before the mounting portion.

With the above arrangement, the mounting portion to which the armrest and the seat back are mounted is not covered with any cushions to reduced the width of the seat as a whole and to facilitate swinging of the armrest by deforming the cushion of the armrest and the cushion of the seat back.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the interior of a vehicle having an armrest structure for a vehicle seat in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a right seat and a right side door.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a seat from which a seat back cushion is taken off.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged exploded view of a swing mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an armrest frame.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An example embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the interior of a passenger compartment of a vehicle having an armrest structure 1 for a vehicle seat 2 in the present embodiment, wherein the vehicle seat 2 is composed of three rear seats connected in series. The three rear seats are independent of each other and are capable of sliding back and forth relative to a floor plate 3, and an armrest 4 is provided on each outboard side in the car width direction of the vehicle seat 2.

FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 show in enlarged scales one of the rear seats as the right side part of the vehicle seat 2. On each outboard side of the vehicle seat 2, a sliding door 5 is arranged, which includes an inner panel 5 a, an outer panel 5 b, and a door reinforcement 5 c. The inboard surface of the inner panel 5 a is covered with a door trim panel 6 made of resin or the like. The sliding door 5 is opened by sliding it once outward and sliding it rearward then. When the sliding door 5 is closed, the door trim panel 6 is located close to the outboard surface of the armrest 4. Since the armrest 4 is unnecessary to be provided at the door trim panel 6, the door trim panel 6 has a simple structure including less protrusions other than a sliding door handle portion 6 a. Each rear seat includes therebelow a sliding mechanism 2 a fixed to the floor plate 3 to be allowed to slide back and forth.

The armrest 4 is capable of moving inboard upon receipt of an inboard load, which is a significant feature of the present embodiment. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, which shows the left side part of the vehicle seat 2, a seat back 7 of a left rear seat of the vehicle seat 2 is so composed that a seat back frame 7 a as a framework formed of a cylindrical pipe and a steel plate is covered with a seat cushion 7 b. The armrest 4 is mounted at the steel plate on the outboard side in the car width direction of the seat back frame 7 a. As shown in FIG. 8, at a mounting portion 8 of the seat back 7, a swing mechanism 10 is provided which is capable of swinging inboard about the mounting portion 8 as a center upon receipt of an inboard load.

As shown in FIG. 6, the swing mechanism 10 includes a base plate 11 mounted at the seat back frame 7 a. The base plate 11 is bent outboard at the upper and lower parts thereof to form bent portions, and a through hole 11 a is formed in each of these bent portions. A swing plate 12 is supported by the base plate 11 pivotally to be capable of swinging inboard (horizontally). The swing plate 12 is bent inboard at upper and lower parts thereof to form bent portions, and a through hole 12 a is formed in each of these bent portions. A swing pin 13 is fitted from below in each of the through holes 11 a and the through holes 12 a with them aligned, and a nut 14 is fastened from above. A torsional coil spring 15 as a biasing member is fitted around the swing pin 13. Though a detailed mounting structure of the torsional coil spring 15 is not shown, the torsional coil spring 15 includes a catch formed at one end thereof and a catch formed at the other end thereof. In a state that the torsional coil spring 15 is wound up from an original natural state (in a state that the bias force in a direction in which the winding is released applied), the catch at the one end is engaged with a hole, a notch, or the like formed in the base plate 11 while the catch at the other end is engaged with a hole, a notch, or the like formed in the swing plate 12. The torsional coil spring 15 always pushes back the armrest 4 outboard. As shown in FIG. 8, a stopper 12 b is formed in the rear end part of the swing plate 12. The stopper 12 b comes in contact with the outboard surface of the base plate 11, thereby restricting the swinging range of the swing plate 12.

From the outboard surface of the swing plate 12, an armrest supporting shaft 16 and a turning range restricting pin 17 are protruded. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, an armrest frame 18 in a angular C-shape in section of which the lower part is opened is mounted at the swing plate 12. A support shaft insertion hole 18 a as a through hole is formed in each side plate of the armrest frame 18 so as to allow the armrest supporting shaft 16 to pass therethrough. An arc-shaped pin hole 18 b is formed in the inboard side plate so as to receive the turning range restricting pin 17. The armrest supporting shaft 16 is inserted in each supporting shaft insertion hole 18 a with a spacer 19 intervening around the armrest supporting shaft 16 while the turning range restricting pin 17 is inserted in the pin hole 18 b, and a tip end screw part of the armrest support shaft 16 is fastened with a nut 20 and a spring washer 21. Whereby, the armrest 4 is mounted at the swing plate 12 to be capable of vertically turning relative to the swing plate 12. Vertical turning of the armrest 4 means only turning thereof relative to the swing plate 12 and causes no turning of the swing mechanism 10 itself. This prevents unintentional inboard swinging of the armrest 4 in vertical turning of the armrest 4.

In the armrest 4, a part of the armrest frame 18 other than the vicinity of the mounting portion 8 is covered with an arm cushion 4 a. The armrest 4 in this state is mounted at the mounting portion 8 so as to be in contact at the inboard surface thereof to the outboard surface of the seat back 7, so that the seat cushion 7 b and the arm cushion 4 a are in contact with each other before the mounting portion 8. The seat cushion 7 b and the arm cushion 4 a are thus provided at a part of the seat back 7 except the mounting portion 8 to which the armrest 4 and the seat back 7 are mounted, thereby reducing the total width of the seat 2.

Provision of the armrest 4 at the seat back 7 means that it is unnecessary to form the armrest 4 at the door trim panel 6 of the sliding door 5, thereby reducing the amount of outboard ejection in opening the sliding door 5 and eliminating the need to form a large armrest releasing clearance in the door trim panel 6. Hence, the degree of freedom in design increases.

—Operation—

An operation of the armrest structure 1 for a vehicle seat in accordance with the present embodiment will be described next.

There are two cases in closing the sliding door 5, namely: the case where a passenger sitting on the seat 2 closes the sliding door 5; and the case where a person outside the vehicle closes the sliding door 5. Particularly, in the latter case, a passenger sitting on the seat 2 may put on his/her arm on the armrest 4. When the sliding door 5 is closed in such a state, the door trim panel 6 may push the passenger's hand if the hand is put between the door trim panel 6 and the armrest 4. If so, the armrest 4 is pushed, namely, receives an inboard load, thereby causing the swing plate 12 to swing inboard relative to the base plate 11 mounted at the seat back frame 7 a. This causes the armrest frame 18 to swing in the direction indicated by open arrows in the drawings relative to the seat back frame 7 a to deform the seat cushion 7 b and the arm cushion 4 a. Thus, the armrest 4 swings inboard in this way to prevent the passenger's hand from being caught by the sliding door 5.

The armrest 4 is turned vertically according to the posture of a passenger. Such vertical turning of the armrest 4, however, causes no turning of the swing mechanism 10. Therefore, the armrest 4 can swing smoothly upon receipt of a load in the horizontal direction regardless of the turning position of the armrest 4. The swing mechanism 10 is provided at the seat back 7 rather than at the armrest 4, and the armrest 4 is mounted at the swing mechanism 10. This leads to compaction and weight reduction of the armrest 4, thereby facilitating swinging and vertical turning of the armrest 4.

When an inboard load ceases, namely, when a passenger removes his/her hand from the armrest 4, or so, the torsional coil spring 15 returns the armrest 4 self-operatively to the original position.

Effects of Embodiment

In the armrest structure 1 for the vehicle seat 2 of the present embodiment, the armrest 4 mounted at the mounting portion 8 on the outboard side of the seat back 7 is arranged close to the door trim panel 6 and is allowed to move inboard upon receipt of an inboard load. Hence, a hand and the like is securely prevented from being caught by the armrest 4 in opening/closing the door in such a simple structure with no narrowing of the width of the seat 2 involved.

Other Embodiments

The above embodiment may employ any of the following structures.

The armrest 4 is provided at each side of the seat 2 of the three rear seats connected in series in the above embodiment but may be provided at each side of a bench seat. Wherein, in a case of the three seats connected in series which can slide independently of each other, the total width thereof is great, and therefore, the present invention can exhibit the effects prominently. The armrest 4 may be provided on the outboard side of the front passenger seat.

The above embodiments are essentially preferable examples and are not intended to limit each scope of the present invention, applicable subject, and use. 

1. An armrest structure, comprising: a mounting portion provided on an outboard side in a car width direction of a seat back; an armrest mounted at the mounting portion; and a door trim panel provided outboard of the seat back, wherein the armrest is arranged close to the door trim panel and is movable inboard upon receipt of an inboard load.
 2. The armrest structure of claim 1, wherein the door trim panel is provided at a sliding door and is located close to an outboard surface of the armrest when the sliding door is closed.
 3. The armrest structure of claim 1, wherein the armrest includes a swing mechanism capable of swinging inboard about the mounting portion as a center upon receipt of the inboard load, and the swing mechanism includes a biasing member for always pushing back the armrest outboard.
 4. The armrest structure of claim 3, wherein the swing mechanism is mounted at the seat back, and the armrest is provided at the swing mechanism.
 5. The armrest structure of claim 4, wherein the armrest is mounted at the swing mechanism so as to be capable of turning vertically relative to the swing mechanism.
 6. The armrest structure of claim 3, wherein the swing mechanism includes: a base plate mounted at a seat back frame; and a swing plate pivotally supported by the base plate so as to be capable of swinging inboard relative to the base plate, and the armrest is mounted at the swing plate so as to be capable of turning vertically relative to the swing plate.
 7. The armrest structure of claim 3, wherein the armrest includes a cushion, the seat back includes another cushion, the armrest is mounted at the mounting potion so as to be in contact at an inboard surface thereof with an outboard surface of the seat back, and the cushion of the armrest and the cushion of the seat back are in contact with each other before the mounting portion. 